Moment of fatal Citi Bike tragedy
Bus driver in court over Chelsea crash
Newly released videos show the tragic moment a Coach USA bus heading down a Chelsea street struck a Citi Bike rider — fatally crushing him under its rear wheel.
The surveillance footage, released to The Post on Thursday, shows Dan Hanegby, wearing large, over-the-ear headphones, pedaling on West 26th Street toward Eighth Avenue on June 12, 2017. As the bus, driven by Dave Lewis, 52, plows by to his left, Hanegby, 36, appears oblivious, glancing to his right.
The victim, who becomes sandwiched between the bus and a parked white van, appears to look left at the bus for a splitsecond before he’s knocked off the bike and tumbles under its rear wheel.
The 50,000-pound bus rolls over Hanegby at about 8:15 a.m., according to the disturbing footage, which was played in Manhattan Criminal Court at Lewis’ ongoing non-jury trial.
Lewis is charged with a misdemeanor and a traffic violation for the death of Hanegby, a Credit Suisse banker and father of two, who was on his way to work that morning.
After the gruesome incident, the videos show Hanegby roll toward his left side, remove his backpack, then flop onto his back. He lifts his right hand and puts it over his head as bystanders begin to encircle him.
Prosecutors argued that Lewis acted recklessly by not giving Hanegby the right of way. The driver honked his horn yet didn’t slow down.
“After appreciating the situation, he didn’t stop,” Raffaela Belizaire told Judge Heidi Cesare. “It was dangerous to try to pass, to try to squeeze through.”
Although Lewis immediately pulled over the bus and waited for police, Belizaire said, “That subsequent cooperation couldn’t undo his prior error in judgment.”
Defense lawyer Jeremy Salandd blamed the accident on Hanegby,y, who wasn’t wearing a helmett and had on Beats headphones.
The investment banker wasn’t paying attention and the headphones blocked out the sound of the blaring horn, he argued.
He said of the accident, “No matter what way you look at this, the end result is something horrific and none of us wouldd want to see another person en-dure it.”
Hanegby was born and raised in Tel Aviv and was a former Israeli army sergeant. He was also a talented athlete and was ranked the No. 1 tennis player in Israel at the age of 16, according to media reports.
His death marked the first Citi Bike fatality since the ride-share program began in 2013.